A SEX worker from Edinburgh who was viciously attacked by a serial rapist has blasted police for closing down saunas, claiming it will put a lot of girls in danger if they are forced to make their living on the streets.

A PROSTITUTE savagely beaten and raped by a client says a police clampdown is putting more working girls at risk.

Sarah, from Edinburgh, was working in a flat in Perth when serial rapist Graeme Bell attacked her after arriving for a pre–booked appointment.

She has told of her safety fears for sex workers who have been forced to walk the streets or work in a flat alone.

Sarah, who wants to campaign for sex workers' rights, said she feels angry that girls working in a flat with others risk being accused of running brothels.

As the law stands, if there is more than one prostitute working in a property, it is defined as a brothel.

At the High Court in Perth on April 8, drug addict Bell, 32, was found guilty of a string of violent sexual assaults against three sex workers.

He was caught when investigators realised Bell had booked his session with Sarah using a mobile phone number he had previously used to call the police.

Sarah, who has worked in the sex trade for four years, told how the situation is more dangerous since Edinburgh Council stripped the city's saunas of their licences.

Talking about her attack, she said: "On February 14 last year, there had been a call for an appointment. We walked into the bedroom. He shut the door and put his hand across it to trap me.

"He said, 'We can do this the easy way or hard way.' My heart sank. It's the moment that every working girl dreads.

"He then pushed me hard on my chest and I fell on to the bed. He pulled my legs apart and forced himself on to me. I screamed at the top of my voice and kept screaming and it was only then that he jumped off and ran away.

"I was distraught. I phoned a friend and then I called 999. I was so angry. A lot of call girls find it difficult to speak to the police but somebody needed to take a stand.

"I have always worked in a flat or hotel because it is the safest place to work. The majority of attacks are committed on the streets. This is my biggest worry about the situation in Edinburgh. A lot of the girls who worked in the saunas are now working on the streets.

"The safest place for them would be to work in a flat. And working in a flat alone isn't safe. If they could work in pairs without breaking the law, I think more sex workers would take this option.

"I do not understand why Edinburgh has scrapped its tolerance. I have no doubt there's going to be a rise in sexual assaults. More girls will be hurt or worse."

Bell, from Perth, was found guilty of raping and attempting to rob a woman on December 5, 2012; assaulting, raping and robbing a second woman on February 14 last year; and attempting to rape and rob a third woman on February 15, 2013.

SCOT–PEP, an Edinburgh–based charity who campaign on behalf of sex workers, said: "We feel it is important to highlight the vulnerability of sex workers who are forced by the law to work alone and therefore are at increased risk of violence."

"A lot of the girls who worked in the saunas now have to work on the streets